PHOTO: Courtesy of WLUK
GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Brown County’s board of supervisors decided late Wednesday night to reject the latest offer to relocate downtown Green Bay’s coal piles.
It was an expected decision after a county committee recommended the move a night earlier, but the vote came with a surprising twist.
After about an hour of discussion in closed session, the board voted 24 to 2 to keep negotiating with C. Reiss Company and seven other companies that have expressed interest in using the former Pulliam Power Plant site.
The county purchased that site four years ago with the intent to relocate the coal piles from the prime riverfront property where they’ve sat for about 125 years.
As part of the board’s vote, the county board also agreed it’s willing to entertain an alternate site to relocate the coal piles that county leaders say the city of Green Bay and C. Reiss have already identified.
“I believe it is the city of Green Bay that owns it right now,” said Brown County Board Chair Pat Buckley of the alternate site.
Buckley says the alternate site is near the Fox River Terminal, which C. Reiss owns. That is at the mouth of the Fox River, in the same area of the Pulliam site.
Buckley says there is hope the approximately $30 million in federal and state grants awarded to move the coal piles to the Pulliam site could be split between the new alternate site and the Pulliam site.
County supervisors hope the other companies interested in the Pulliam site could also put in their own money to still make port growth happen at that location.
“We’re trying to come up with what makes sense and what will work to get the job done and we’re willing to work with the city and C. Reiss to get it done,” said Buckley.
Supervisor Pat Evans says he believes this vote shows C. Reiss is being pushed out of the Pulliam site negotiations.
“It’s going to sound good, but in reality the coal piles are not moving and I’m really disappointed by that because it’s just some flowery statement saying we want to work with C. Reiss but we now also want to work with these other people,” said Evans.
After the county board vote, C. Reiss CEO Keith Haselhoff issued a statement.
The County Board’s actions demonstrate that it’s not interested in working with C. Reiss to move the coal piles or generate the millions in economic activity and job growth that would come from redeveloping our downtown Green Bay location. As a result, Brown County is now at significant risk of losing some $25 million in state and federal grants which were made in order to move the coal piles.
Buckley says the county hasn’t checked with federal and state agencies whether these new plans would fit the guidelines for the county to keep the grant money.
Studies have shown the current land where the coal piles sit could garner $150 million in new development.
C. Reiss has said it would be willing to redevelop about 10 acres of the 35-acre site if a deal is reached to relocate the coal piles.
Green Bay Mayor Eric Genrich, city council president Brian Johnson and former mayors Jim Schmitt and Paul Jadin released this statement Thursday:
For decades, under our respective tenures and beyond, the City of Green Bay has pursued the goal of relocating the coal piles away from our downtown waterfront to benefit our community, our port, and our regional economy. Recognizing the existing window of opportunity is closing quickly, we urge Brown County leaders to seize the moment and work collaboratively with C. Reiss toward a sound and equitable agreement that uses the allocated grant funds for their intended purpose in a way that brings the relocation project to fruition. The decision before the County Board and C. Reiss is a legacy-making opportunity to transform our riverfront for generations to come, and we urge them both to choose a solution of which they and the community can be proud.
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